Low pressure mavity system and shower

syn3rgy

syn3rgy

syn3rgy

Associate
Joined
7 May 2014
Posts
122
Hi All,

Hoping some of your experts will be able to provide some assistance.

We have just moved into a new place and we have a Low pressure mavity system

http://www.mirashowers.co.uk/common/images/systemDiagram-lowPressureGravity-print.gif

When we look at the water pressure of the shower, it is pretty appalling. The water pressure in the bath and sink is fine, just the shower.

We have a bar mixer tap, not sure what make it is as it does not seem to have any name or markings on it. Similar to the one below.

[IMG]http://www.wet-water.co.uk/components/com_virtuemart/show_image_in_imgtag.php?filename=MIX5900__Thermos_4f55dd067b427.jpg&newxsize=500&newysize=500&fileout=

We removed the bar mixer to have a look at the filters to see if they were dirty or anything, which they were not. We also checked the water pressure coming out of the pipes without the bar mixer installed and it looks pretty good, so this is leading me to believe that the mixer tap is the bottleneck.

So, my question is: What other type of mixer can I replace this with that will allow a greater flow rate and hopefully improve the pressure coming out the shower?

Looking to spend about £100 to £120
Thanks for the help 


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What sort of distance do you think is between the shower head and the water tank above (in the loft?)?
 
I would say it is about 7 to 10 meters to the cold water tank in the loft and about 1.5 to the hot water tank in the bathroom cupboard.
 
Sorry Tesla, I understood incorrectly. I would say the height between the top of the shower head and the cold water tank must be about 3m ?
 
I did a quick video this morning, unfortunately it does not do it much justice on how bad the shower pressure is.

My Pressure

Sorry if you get a sore neck after watching ;)

Would i be better off with a non thermostatic shower which doesn't have flow control?
 
The shower head height is the critical part here. The mixer is lower so will have a bit higher pressure

mavity showers are always crap in upstairs room. The tank is only a metre above the head max so 0.1bar is all you can expect. Either fit a pump or just go electric.

My 10kw Mira is fine for me and much better than any mavity fed shower I've used in previous homes
 
You will have to forgive my ignorance in the subject.
With regards to a pump, There is one of these situated close to the hot water tank

Pump

KyhvwaSl
 
Exactly, the head pressure of the height difference between the tank level and the shower head is your static pressure.

1 bar need 10m of difference.
 
thanks for the suggestions.
i take it mains fed would be an electric shower? not really wanting one of these.
also, with regards to pumps, concerned about the noise level
 
My parents went from useless mavity fed showers to pumped ones a few years back and haven't looked back. Sure the pump makes a noise but it's not massively intrusive, can't say there's any noticeable vibration from it.
 
Yep, pump or mains fed hot water. Ideally, the pump should be fitted as close to the HWST as possible, but a lot of people will opt to have them in the loft for space reasons.

If you must pump, aim for 2 or 3 bar, Grundfos or similar (you can whole of house pump too if you go for 3bar). Expect to pay £200 to £400, grab a concrete slab and vibe mate if noise and vibration are things you want to avoid.

Failing that, and money no object, go mains fed. We did a few months ago and haven't looked back. We have 10bar at the street, 5 bar by the time it hits the loft, regulated to 3bar downstream to the unvented cylinder tank. Showers (all of them) at the same time show no loss of flow or pressure.
 
ditch the mixer for an electric shower off the mains water?

other than that fit a pump like the others have suggested,it will boost your low pressure
 
Pump
Electric
Digital
Treviboost

They are pretty much your options, you will never get a good shower on a mavity fed system otherwise.
 
Get a pump fitted for it, but for the love of God have new feeds from the tank and cylinder, don't pump the whole house! Noise will become an issue when someone get up for a slash in the middle of the night an the pump kicks in to fill the cistern.
 
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